Richard Hall (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Anthony Hall | ||
| Date of birth | 14 March 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Ipswich, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1987–1988 | Ipswich Town | ||
| 1988–1990 | Scunthorpe United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1990–1991 | Scunthorpe United | 22 | (3) |
| 1991–1996 | Southampton | 126 | (12) |
| 1996–1999 | West Ham United | 7 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1992–1993 | England U21 | 11 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Richard Anthony Hall (born 14 March 1972 in Ipswich) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently a Development Coach at Colchester United, having previously been the reserve team coach at Ipswich Town.
Playing career
Early career
Hall played youth football with local club Ipswich Town but was let go at the age of 16. He then joined Scunthorpe United in July 1988 as a trainee. He made his debut on Boxing Day 1989 (against Grimsby Town), but, despite signing a professional contract on 20 March 1990, he did not appear again until the following season. He soon attracted the attention of scouts from larger clubs and joined Division 1 club Southampton before the season was over. He made 31 league and cup appearances for the club, scoring 3 goals.
Southampton
On 13 February 1991, Hall was signed by Chris Nicholl joining Southampton for a fee of £200,000. He made his debut in the final match of the season against Wimbledon on 11 May 1991.
The powerfully built defender soon became a first choice central defender as Southampton struggled annually to remain in the newly formed Premiership. As well as commanding his own penalty area he was also a real threat in the opposition's box, including scoring with a header in the opening match of the 1991–92 season at Tottenham Hotspur. Unfortunately, the regular change-over of managers resulted in the club allowing his contract to expire at the end of the 1995–96 season and he was snapped up by Harry Redknapp, joining West Ham United for the start of the 1996–97 season. The transfer fee was fixed by tribunal at £1.4 million.
He had spent five years at the south coast club, and made a total of 157 appearances, scoring 16 goals.
West Ham United
West Ham hoped that they had obtained a bargain but unfortunately, Hall sustained a foot injury during a pre-season game against Carshalton, and made just seven appearances for West Ham towards the end of the campaign. Injury kept him out for the following two years (save a substitute appearance against Swansea City in the FA Cup in January 1999),[1] before he finally decided to retire in April 1999, aged just 27.
Coaching career
In 2006 he rejoined his youth team, Ipswich Town, as the reserve team coach. After three years he left the club in 2009 and later joined East Anglian rivals Colchester United as the club's Development Coach.[2]
References
- ↑ Tongue, Steve (13 January 1999). "West Ham's cup fortunes take hiding". London: The Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
- ↑ http://www.cu-fc.com/page/News/0,,10424~2124384,00.html
- Richard Hall career stats at Soccerbase
- Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
- Hogg, Tony (2005). Who's Who of West Ham United. Profile Sports Media. p. 95. ISBN 1-903135-50-8.